Four Colombians were arrested in the Costa Rican southern zone of Puerto Carrillo on the Pacific Coast, when their small boat was located 100 miles offshore by the U.S. Coast Guard, on suspicion of drug running. Today's Stories: • Rains Keep Pounding the Limón Area • Report to be Broadcast Sunday Alleges Trip Was 'Sex Tourism.' • Valedictorian's American Dream Began in Costa Rica • Colombia clinches deal with AUC • Peru urges Japan to hand over Fujimori • Guatemalan women 'hit by violence'

In Guápiles, west of Following the heavy rains that left three dead and thousands fleeing for temporary shelter in the Caribbean area, the rain is moving inland.

In Guápiles, west of Limón, dozens of homes have been flooded, rivers overflowing and electrical service has been disrupted. One person is missing due to the heavy rain that hit the area.

In San José, the rain started early in the afternoon, at times heavy, overflowing storm sewers, and lasting into the early evening.

According to the weatherman - the Instituto Metereológico Nacional - the rains will continue to affect the Caribbean Coast and Northern Zone.

The weatherman says the rain will continue in the Central Valley and predicts that it will move west into the Nicoya Peninsula (west of Puntarenas) as well though not as intense as in the East coast.

Costa Rica is officially in the "rainy season" or as it is being called now the "green season", which is to last into the middle of November when the "dry" season returns.

Report to be Broadcast Sunday Alleges Trip Was 'Sex Tourism.'
A story in a Costa Rican newspaper and a local television news report to be broadcast on Sunday suggest that a group of Macomb County men on a fishing trip may have been more interested in prostitutes than marlins.

But the coordinator of the annual fishing tournament, held this year in Flamingo, Costa Rica, said any story generated by a reporter for WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) in Detroit will prove to be "bad journalism."

Angelo Nucci, a St. Clair Shores resident, questioned the ethics of television reporter Steve Wilson in conducting interviews for a story on prostitution in Costa Rica.

Nucci said the fishing trip "has never had anything to do with prostitution" since he began organizing the event more than a decade ago. It's an ongoing tradition since 1977, when Warren tool-and-die-maker Kenny Black got some friends together for the Pacific Ocean outing.

Today, the Costa Rica Invitational fishing tournament includes elected officials, wealthy business owners and community leaders, mostly from Macomb County. This year 167 men paid nearly $2,000 each for the trip.

"This group has nothing to hide," Nucci said. "This should be a story about camaraderie and fishing for marlin."

This year, Charlie Nyhus of Shelby Township won the $7,500 first place prize by taking in a big sailfish.

"It was a world-class experience," Nyhus, 43, said this week. "I'm definitely going back."

But when the group - known as The Michigan Boys - returned May 2 from their annual trip, they were surprised to hear about a story by Otto Vargas in a Spanish newspaper that reported an ABC news crew witnessed "young women entering the hotel where the (Michigan Boys) were staying."

The story quotes reporter Bruce Harris of Casa-Alianaza, a non-governmental group, saying "that never had such a large group of sex tourists been seen (at the Flamingo Marina Resort)."

Nucci, a bartender at Mr. Paul's Chophouse in Roseville, said soon after he read the Spanish newspaper, he was confronted by a "rude and pushy" Wilson.

"(Wilson) already has his mind made up of what angle he was taking on the story," Nucci said. "It's the angle that this fishing group is down there for these young prostitutes. That's the furthest from the truth."

WXYZ-TV General Manager Grace Gilchrest did not return messages seeking comment. Wilson could also not be reached for comment.

But Mike Greiner, a spokesman for the city of Warren, said he was approached for an interview by Wilson on Monday.

Greiner said he spoke to Warren Police Chief Danny Clark, who attended this year's fishing trip.

"I had a real problem with the way this reporter was trying to ambush people," Greiner said referring to Wilson's tactics. "He wanted to talk with the mayor, but didn't say why. It's not unfair to ask why he wants to talk with the mayor. He then became nasty, essentially throwing a temper tantrum."

Greiner said Chief Clark acknowledged he was in Costa Rica, but told Greiner he was never solicited for sex and never hired a prostitute.

"He didn't even see a prostitute," Greiner said. "Danny Clark had previously reserved a vacation and he paid for it out of his own pocket. He is one of the most respected officers in our department and we stand by him.

"And our mayor (Mark Steenbergh) has never attended the trip," he said.

According to the La Nacion newspaper story, Wilson went to the beach at the Flamingo resort trying to line up underage prostitutes. According to the story, Wilson used a hidden camera to quote a woman saying she could supply underage prostitutes, but the paper reported she never did. It was unclear in the story why Wilson inquired about hiring underage prostitutes.

Hotel officials at the Flamingo resort and police officials in nearby Santa Cruz, Costa Rica, declined to discuss the story with The Macomb Daily. 

Valedictorian's American Dream Began in Costa Rica
Tomé Dalila Cohen-Gleichmann knows the value of education.

The University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus Class of 2004 valedictorian plans to continue on her quest for a teaching degree so she can help children strive for their dreams.

As a child in Costa Rica, the importance of education was instilled in Cohen-Gleichmann.

"Every village, no matter how remote, had a school," she said of her native land. "Education is very important. Illiteracy is non-existing there. In 1948, the president of Costa Rica abolished the army because the government wanted that money to be spent on education."

With that cultural belief, it was no surprise that Cohen-Gleichmann, the mother of two boys, returned to college.

"Furthering my education was never out of sight for me. It just took me a while, and, once I returned to school, I took baby steps," she said of finishing her first two years of college in five years."

Cohen-Gleichmann attended business college as a young woman in Costa Rica. With those skills, she supported her parents and younger sister.

"My father had been a merchant marine and traveled all over the world," she said. "He would tell me of all the places he had been."

When her father's health deteriorated to where he could not work, the responsibility of supporting her family fell on Cohen-Gleichmann's shoulders.

"I had to leave Costa Rica and come to the United States so I could earn enough to support them and myself," she recalls. "It was very sad, leaving my family, but I had to do it."

As a medical-claims examiner in California, Cohen-Gleichmann not only supported her parents, but sent her younger sister to private school and replaced their house.

"I am an American citizen now," she said. "While I love my homeland and miss it, I love the United States. I like the fact that it is a melting pot of people from every part of the world. And there are so many opportunities for people to live their dreams here."

Peru urges Japan to hand over Fujimori
Peru urged Japan to hand over the former President Alberto Fujimori, exiled in Japan's capital Tokyo since 2000, in accordance with the extradition request issued in 2003.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Manuel Rodriguez said Friday that he reiterated the formal extradition request to his Japanese counterpart Yoriko Kawaguchi, through the Japanese Embassy to the capital Lima.

Rodriguez said that the petition was based on international law and human rights, that forced the states to guarantee the access to justice.

Fujimori exiled in Japan on Nov. 19, 2000 and Peru formally presented his extradition on July 30, 2003. However, Japan refuses to extradite the former leader, who holds the double Peruvian-Japanese nationality.

Fujimori, whose presidency lasted from 1990 to 2000, was charged with abandonment of post, corruption and illegal association to commit a crime.

However, he rejected the accusations, said that he was the victim of a political persecution and announced that he will return to Peru.

Guatemalan women 'hit by violence'
Some 700 women have been murdered in Guatemala since 2001, rights groups say
A human rights group says at least 46 Guatemalan women have been killed after being tortured and raped this year.

The Mutual Support Group said the deaths were among 170 cases of women murdered in the country since January.

Despite the new government's promises to crack down on crime, "Guatemalans have yet to perceive any real change" in the situation, the group said.

Security issues were among the main concerns of ordinary Guatemalans during last year's presidential election.

Local media reports say that murders, assaults and kidnappings increased by more than 150% during 2003.

According to the Mutual Support Group's statistics, there have been 800 cases of violence this year - which, the group says, indicates that violence is not declining.

It added that at least 508 murders occurred in the first four months of the year.

President Oscar Berger, who took office in January, has promised to fight organised crime.

Guatemala's 36-year civil war ended in 1996, but its legacy remains difficult to eradicate, correspondents say.

It is estimated that there are 1.5 million guns in circulation in a nation of 12.3 million people